X

DemoFall preview: 10 to watch

If you can only watch 10 pitches from DemoFall, these would be good ones.

Rafe Needleman Former Editor at Large
Rafe Needleman reviews mobile apps and products for fun, and picks startups apart when he gets bored. He has evaluated thousands of new companies, most of which have since gone out of business.
See full bio
Rafe Needleman
3 min read

The DemoFall and TechCrunch50 conferences launch Monday. Demo's posted its list of it 72 presenting companies. TechCrunch will post a part of its list, we're told, at 6 a.m. Monday.

You can see the full Demo list at the end of this post. But here are the top 10 companies I'd be paying the most attention to if I were going to Demo (I'm going to TechCrunch with Josh; CNET News writers Elinor Mills and Daniel Terdiman will be at Demo). I'll do a list, or lists, for TechCrunch too, time permitting.

Rafe's Top 10 previews from Demo
(Please note that I haven't talked to all these companies yet, so my understanding of these pitches is incomplete, and my post-conference Top list will likely be different.)

(Note #2: I have replaced one my original picks due to a press embargo error on my part.)

  • Clintview by Clintworld: This is a financial analysis tool primarily for mobile phone carriers. It simulates customer behavior related to pricing and helps create pricing tiers and plans that generate the most revenue. It brings a disciplined approach to pricing services, which I think is smart. Might be applicable to paid Web services as well.
  • CrowdSpring Private by CrowdSpring: The company is not new, but I still love the idea. It's a new twist on the open marketplace for intellectual work. At Demo, the company will unveil CrowdSpring Private, which lets companies create their own, closed markets, so creativity doesn't leak out onto the Web, heaven forbid.
  • Infovell: Very interesting new search service. It lets you type in arbitrarily long queries, and then ranks results based on importance and frequency of word clusters. Also lets you use entire Web pages as queries, generating a "more like this" function that doesn't currently exist. Could be great for researching complex medical or legal topics.
  • Avego by Mapflow: Adds intelligence to casual carpooling with a car-service-like gizmo that tells drivers where riders are that want to go where they are going. It's hitchhiking 2.0: Scary but cool, and very green.
  • PaidInterviews: Pays job candidates for going on interviews. Totally whacked economic model, if you ask me, but that makes it interesting.
  • Plastic Logic: New science for electronic books, possibly competitive to existing e-Ink technology. Real chemistry at a start-up conference. What a breath of fresh air.
  • SpinSpotter: Claims to spot bias and inaccuracies in news stories. Helpful, if it works. Although it will probably expode if pointed at the blogosphere. And who watches the watchmen?
  • .tel by Telnic: One of several new companies that lets users create personal calling card Web sites using a new top-level-domain. I am highly skeptical of this model, but I want to see how it develops.
  • WebDiet: Location-based diet helper. Gives you food advice based on what's close to you. Unknown if it gives you an electric shock and shrieks, "Keep walking!" when you pass a McDonald's.
  • Xumii: Makes a service that access all your social sites from your mobile phone. Could be very useful for the younger, multiply-connected set.

See full Launch Week coverage of DemoFall and TechCrunch.

The DemoFall lineup is after the jump...

The DemoFall companies:

Services and Software Guides

VPN
Cybersecurity
Streaming Services
Web Hosting & Websites
Other Services & Software
Services and Software Coupons